Sliding clasp fasteners



23, 1966 A. v. DAVIES 3,267,544

SLIDING CLASP FASTENERS Filed Dec. 9, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 n venlor 44 4 Lczfar Da We;

Attorney Aug. 23, 1966 A. v. DAVIES 3,267,544

SLIDING CLASP FASTENERS Filed Dec. 9, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,267,544 SLIDENG CLASP FASTENERS Alfred V. Davies, Giamorgan, South Wales, assignor to Aero Zipp Fasteners Limited, Wembley, Middlesex, Great Britain, a British company Filed Dec. 9, 1964, Ser. No. 417,177 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Dec. 18, 1963, 49,922/63 7 Claims. (Cl. 24205.14)

The invention relates to sliding clasp fasteners, and more specifically to automatically locking sliders for sliding clasp fasteners and is an improvement in or modification of the slider disclosed in the complete specification of United Kingdom Patent No. 669,587. In said complete specification an automatically locking slider is claimed wherein the attaching member has the shape of an elongated hollow cap movably attached to one of the shields of the slider body, a leaf-spring forming a taillike end of the cap extending outwardly from the cap and bearing against a part of the slider body so as to urge a locking finger fixed to, or integral with, the cap towards the other shield of the slider body.

While automatically locking sliders as described in said complete specification are generally satisfactory, some difficulty is experienced when the sliders are to be used in connection with so-called covered zip fasteners, that is fasteners in which the interlocking elements are entirely or in part covered at one or both sides by covering means, such as by strips of material or sewing threads so that the interlocking elements are entirely or in part concealed when viewing the fastener. In such cases, the interlocking finger or fingers cannot, or cannot easily, enter the spaces between adjacent interlocking elements since the covering strips or threads prevent the free passage of the locking finger or fingers.

It is an object of the invention to provide an automatically locking slider which avoids or at least mitigates the difficulty just referred to.

To make the invention clearly understood reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which are given by way of example and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of a sliding clamp fastener operable by a conventional slider;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a slider of the invention on a larger scale;

FIG. 3 is a transverse section through the slider of FIG. 2 and a sliding clasp fastener operable thereby; and

FIG. 4 illustrates the position of two locking fingers of the slider of FIGS. 2 and 3 relatively to a sliding clasp fastener when the fingers lock the slider to prevent unintentional movement thereof.

The sliding clasp fastener portion illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises two strings 101 of connected fastener elements 102 sewn by means of threads 103 to adjacent edges of carrier tapes 104. A slider 105, which is shown in FIG. 1 as a conventional slider serves to open and close the fastener in usual manner. The threads 103 partly conceal the string 101 of fastener elements 102.

An automatic locking slider of the invention comprises three parts as shown in FIG. 2: a slider body generally denoted by reference numeral 1, a hollow cap generally denoted by reference 2, and a pull member generally denoted by reference numeral 3 for operating the slider.

The slider body 1 comprises an upper shield 4 and a lower shield 5 having inturned flanges 6 and 7 respectively and being joined together in spaced relationship from each other by a neck portion 8 of a wedge-like shape to form a Y-shaped channel 9 between the shields. The upper shield 4 has two windows 10 and 11 and comprises means for securing the cap 2 to the slider body 1. The securing means include a connecting lug 12 mounted on the upper shield 4 at the Wide end of the slider body 1. A stopping lug 13 is mounted on the upper shield 4 at the opposite, narrow, end of the slider body 1. The connecting lug 12 has lateral recesses 24 and the stopping lug 13 has lateral recesses 42, on such recess being provided at each side of each ing.

The slider shields 4 and 5 each have longitudinal recesses 31 for accommodating the sewing threads 103. The lower slider shield 5 has a longitudinal projection 32 extending centrally of the slider shield for facilitating guiding the fastener elements through the slider. A rib 29 is provided at the underside of the slider for strengthening the lower shield 5.

The hollow cap 2 has a transverse wall 15 from which two side walls 16 and 17 depend, each having a cutout 18 extending from the lower edge of the respective side wall upwards for hinging the pull member 3 to the cap 2. Each side wall is provided at one of its ends with a connecting prong 19 and at its opposite end with a stopping prong 91, each prong extending in the longitudinal direction of the cap 2 so as to be aligned with the respective side wall 16 or 17 and flush with the lower edge thereof. The cap 2 also comprises a leaf-spring 20, which is bent downwards and forms a tail-like end. Each side wall 16, 17 carries a locking finger 21 or 22 respectively which generally extends in the downward direction.

The slider so far described is similar to the slider described in said complete specification No. 669,587 with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the slider of the present invention, portions of each locking finger 21, 22 and of the side walls 16, 17 of the cap 2 are bent as at 210 and 220 so that as can best be seen in FIG. 3 the fingers 21 and 22, while still extending downwards, are closer together, than if the finger and the side wall portions were straight. This enables the tips of the fingers 21 and 22 to enter spaces between adjacent fastener elements 102 without interfering with the threads 103.

The slider is assembled and operates in the same way as the sliders of the complete specification No. 669,587 referred to hereinbefore.

Modifications of the slider described and illustrated are possible. For example the slider body and the cap may be of any shape disclosed in said complete specification No. 669,587 except that the locking fingers and the side walls should be bent towards each other. If the look ing fingers are of sufficient length, it may sufiice to bend only the locking fingers. Conversely, it may be possible to bend only the side walls. Again, instead of providing two locking fingers 21 and 22 displaced relatively to each other in the longitudinal direction of the slider, as shown in FIG. 4, it is possible to provide only a single locking finger.

I claim:

1. An automatically locking slider for a sliding clasp fastener, comprising a slider body, an elongated hollow cap movably attached to said slider body, a pull member linked to said hollow cap, a leaf-spring extending outwardly from said cap and bearing against a part of said slider body, two opposite side walls of said cap, at least one locking finger carried by one of said side walls, said leaf-spring urging said locking finger into locking position, said locking finger being displaced from the general plane of said one side wall towards the longitudinal centre line of said cap and being substantially parallel to said one side wall, whereby the free end of said locking finger is enabled, when in use, to enter a gap between adjacent interlocking elements of a sliding clasp fastener at a region close to the centre line of said fastener.

2. A slider as defined in claim 1, wherein a portion of said locking finger is bent towards said longitudinal centre line of said cap.

3. A slider as defined in claim 1, wherein a portion of said one side wall is bent towards said longitudinal centre line of said cap.

4. A slider asdefined in claim 1, wherein two locking fingers are provided, one on each side wall of said cap, said locking fingers being displaced towards each other.

5. A slider as defined in claim 4, wherein said locking fingers are also displaced relatively to each other in the longitudinal direction of said cap by susbtantially the width of a locking element.

6. A slider as defined in claim 1 and further comprising two slider shields, at least one of said shields having longitudinal recesses for accommodating means covering said sliding clasp of the fastener.

7. A slider as defined in claim 1, and further comprising two slider shields, and a longitudinal projection on a slider shield said longitudinal projection extending centrally of said slider shield and projecting towards the other slider shield for facilitating guiding interlocking elements through said slider.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,281,009 4/1942 Poux 24-20514 2,799,070 7/1957 Weber 24205.14 2,901,803 9/1959 Porepp.

FOREIGN PATENTS 60,833 1/1955 France. 1,094,683 12/1960 Germany.

BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN AUTOMATICALLY LOCKING SLIDER FOR A SLIDING CLASP FASTENER, COMPRISING A SLIDER BODY, AN ELONGATED HOLLOW CAP MOVABLE ATTACHED TO SAID SLIDER BODY, A PULL MEMBER LINKED TO SAID HOLLOW CAP, A LEAF-SPRING EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID CAP AND BEARING AGAINST A PART OF SAID SLIDER BODY, TWO OPPOSITE SIDE WALLS OF SAID CAP, AT LEAST ONE LOCKING FINGER CARRIED BY ONE OF SAID SIDE WALLS, SAID LEAF-SPRING URGING SAID LOCKING FINGER INTO LOCKING POSITION, SAID LOCKING FINGER BEING DISPLACED FROM THE GENERAL PLANE OF SAID ONE SIDE WALL TOWARDS THE LONGITUDINAL 